Murder in Zootopia
by rc3wondere
Summary: Oh no, a murder has occurred in Zootopia! Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde are assigned to solve this murder. Can they solve it? Contains a little JudyxNick but not enough to really say it's a "romance story," some violence, gore, and maybe minor language.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Oh my god!"

Bullets fired from the gun at such a high speed. Mr. Ligma, a monkey, did not even have time to reflect on his life. His body fell face first onto the hard wood floor in his living room, right next to the leather couch. The impact of the fall caused a photo of him and his family to fall off a table and shatter. His lifeless body laid in a pool of blood.

Mr. Ligma was just getting ready to leave the house before he was murdered. He was a tax collector, and a very good one too. His co-workers noticed he was not on time, and he was always on time. His co-worker Tammy, a sheep, picked up her cell and called him. No answer.

"Where is Mr. Ligma? He always arrives to work on time, he is now an hour late!" The boss screamed.

Just then, a lady monkey came running through the doors of the office, causing a doorknob to fall off. "Please someone, my husband!" She screamed.

A bunny sitting at one of the office desks perked her ears up in alert. She hopped up and approached the lady. "What is wrong with your husband?"

The lady shook. "My husband, I just woke up, he's been shot! And our phones are missing so I cannot call the police!"

The bunny backed up in horror. Shot? Who was shot? It was not Mr. Ligma was it?

"What is your husband's name miss?"

"Mr. James Ligma." The lady started crying. "He works here, and this was the closest and safest public building I could find."

The rest of the workers heard all of this and stared at each other. Mr. Ligma? He was always so nice to everyone and very caring of others. No one could come up with a valid reason why someone would want this man dead. But despite the confusion, the bunny assured everything was going to be okay and that she was going to call the police.

 _Meanwhile at the office…_

Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde were getting ready for a busy day stopping crime. Zootopia was full of crime and suspicious behavior, and someone had to take control. The two officers sat in the meeting room, ready to receive today's assignments. As soon as they took their seats, the chief walked into the room with a clipboard and a serious expression on his face.

"Okay so here are today's assignments everyone…Officer Jake and Officer Brown, you guys are on the mission of the missing horse in the tundra…"

The chief went on assigning assignments to everyone in the room. Just before he got to Nick and Judy's name, his phone rang.

"Yes this is the chief…" He answered. "…oh…okay…"

Officer Hopps looked at Nick with a worried expression. "Do you think everything is okay?"

The chief eventually hung up the phone and gave Judy and Nick a serious expression. "You two are on your first murder mission today."

Judy and Nick looked at each other with shocked expressions. "…murder mission?" They asked in unison.

The chief lowered his head. "A poor monkey was murdered out in his house today. We need someone on the case and you two are the perfect ones for the job."

Judy certainly did not want to argue with that, but she was not all that comfortable with investigations yet. She did almost fail a missing person case, so how was she going to be able to tackle a murder case? She knew deep down she should not be afraid though, Nick was going to be her partner and he would always keep her safe. Judy was not really afraid of her safety, she was afraid of the fact that someone had DIED and she was going to have to find out why. She turned to Nick and half smiled.

"Well, on the bright side we get to work together, right Nick?"

Nick was just as scared as she was, but he did not show it. "Yeah, I guess so."

The chief approached Judy and handed her a slip of paper he wrote stuff down on. "Call us if you need some backup. I'm counting on you, Hopps."

Judy folded the slip of paper and slipped it into her pocket. "We should get started now, Nick."

"Agreed." Nick followed Judy out to the door and into the patrol car. Judy started the car and they were off to investigate the crime.

 _At the crime scene…_

Judy and Nick arrived shortly after the 911 team showed up. A police officer came approaching Judy and Nick with a scared expression.

"Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde, I'm so glad you two are here!" The officer shook their hands. "The victim is still in there, poor thing had no chance for fighting."

The police officer lead Judy and Nick to wear Mr. Ligma remained. They passed through a tiny kitchen and into the living room. There lied Mr. Ligma in a pool of blood. Judy slowly approached the body with extreme caution, and with her gloved hand she gently touched his forehead and rolled his head over so he would be facing her. There she saw an exit wound…but no entry room.

Judy placed her hands on her hips. "Well Nick, we know he has been shot…but where is that entry wound?" Judy did not want to tamper with evidence, so she decided not to mess with the remains any longer.

Nick walked around the room finding any evidence he could find. He found some shell casings, a pen, a knife and a stereo remote covered in hair and blood. He placed all these evidences in their own separate bags and placed them in an even bigger bag.

Judy also looked for evidence, but was mainly taking notes on her surroundings. To her understanding, there were no witnesses except for the wife, but right now she was in too much emotional distress to talk to the investigators. Judy and Nick knew this was going to be a hard case, but they knew it needs to be cracked somehow…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mr. Ligma's wife began to calm down a bit. Just and Nick had been waiting for a very long time for her to calm down, and slowly she was doing so. Judy decided to take this chance and question her.

"Mrs. Ligma, may we ask you some questions?" Judy calmly asked.

Mrs. Ligma wipes the tears off from her face. "Oh yes, anything to help find the person who ruined our family…"

Nick sat next to Judy and took out a notepad and pen. Judy placed her hands on Mrs. Ligma's leg and calmly spoked.

"Could you tell us a little about your husband?"

Mrs. Ligma trembled a bit. "Well, he was always a happy man. We had two children, one boy and one girl. He was always a family man and our kids loved him very much. Our son is in the 11th grade and our daughter is just in 8th grade. My husband loved them very much, probably more than he loved me." She chuckled a bit at the last sentence.

Nick jotted down the things Mrs. Ligma said. Judy waiting a bit before asking the next question.

"Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to hurt your husband?"

Mrs. Ligma raised an eyebrow. "Oh dear, no I do not. My husband was a loved man, always nice to everyone. I can't even imagine who would have wanted to hurt him."

"Did you notice anything weird recently about your husband?"

Mrs. Ligma twiddled her thumbs as she thought. "Well...he has been gone recently. He always arrived home in time for dinner, but for some reason this past week he was always late. He claimed he had a lot of meetings but I wasn't sure."

Nick's attention was caught. He looked up at the grieving wife and jotted down that statement.

Judy looked at Nick for a while before asking the last question, almost as if she was telepathically communicating with him. They both nodded and Judy looked back at the wife.

"How was your marriage with Mr. Ligma?"

Mrs. Ligma jolted up a bit. "My marriage?" She slumped back down realizing it was just for the investigation. "Well, we have had a bit of financial problems recently but we never really fight or anything. We've been married for 10 years now."

Nick jotted down some more notes and looked up at Judy.

"Anything else?" Judy leaned towards Mrs. Ligma.

"No, I don't have any more information for you guys." Mrs. Ligma lowered her head, disappointed that she had no more information for Judy and Nick.

Judy shook hands with Mrs. Ligma. "Well, that is all for now." She reached into her pocket and gave her her business card. "Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions. We will keep in touch."

Mrs. Ligma accepted the card and placed it into her purse. "Thank you officer…"

"Officer Hopps." Judy smiled. She looked over at Nick. "And this is Officer Wilde, both of us are on your case."

"Thank you Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde." Mrs. Ligma smiled slightly.

Judy and Nick left the scene and hopped back into the patrol car. Judy slumped behind the steering wheel and sighed.

"Do you think we will find that killer, Nick?"

Nick reviewed his notes. "I have no idea, Judy. I'll be honest, I have no idea how to solve a case like this. This is much more serious and complicated than a missing person case ya know?"

Judy slumped in the seat. "Well, we just need to find all the facts, you know like Mr. Otterton? But I don't think it has anything to do with the Night Howlers flower again. I just hope we can get justice for this guy."

Nick looked over at the notes again. "It seems Mr. Ligma had a pretty good life and was a good person."

Judy suddenly sat up straight and perked her ears. "Wait, didn't Mrs. Ligma state something like her husband has been late for dinner the past week?"

"Yeah." Nick pointed at where he quoted the wife. "Right here."

Judy glanced at the note for a second, but didn't really look at it since she was driving. "Well maybe we need to stop by the office and see what's up."

"I agree." Nick closed the notes. "Should we turn these notes in?"

Judy smiled. "Nah, let's keep them around for a while."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Judy pulled into the tax office where Mr. Ligma had worked. Nick reached for his notebook and opened it up again.

"You ask the questions again, Officer Hopps?"

Judy smiled. "Yeah, hopefully these guys know something useful." She turned the car off and opened the door. "Well, this crime isn't going to solve itself, let's go Nick."

Judy and Nick walked over to the front doors. Nick tried to open the doors, but they were locked down.

"Maybe there is a call button." Judy observed the door trying to find the button.

"Here it is!" Nick stood by the call button that was just a few feet from the doors. He hit the button and a phone ringing noise was heard.

A faint, female voice answered. "Hello?"

Judy leaned into the mic. "This is the police, we have a few questions about Mr. Ligma."

"...oh okay let me open the door for you." A few seconds later the doors opened, revealing an office setting. Desks and computers were everywhere, and people were either talking on the phone, typing something, or both. Judy looked at Nick with a confused expression.

"Do any of you know Mr. Ligma?" Judy announced.

The workers peeked their heads from their desks and stared at Judy. "This feels like we are interrogating a bar…" Nick mumbed.

"I agree, but we still need to ask them questions." Judy whispered.

"Don't worry, we are the police." Nick announced. "We just need to know if any of you have details about Mr. Ligma's murder."

Out of response, a sheep stepped out of her office and approached Nick. "I have some information…" She mumbled nervously.

Nick quickly opened his notebook. Judy stepped in front of him and looked at the sheep. "Come follow us, do you know a place where we can talk?"

The sheep looked around. "I do know a place, we have a garden out back." She pointed at a glass door. "Just through that door, nobody goes out there." She led Nick and Judy towards the door.

The garden looked very peaceful. Roses and tulips were greeting the officers as they walked on the brick path. A large fountain was in the center with cement benches surrounding it. Nick and Judy both took a seat next to each other on a bench followed by the sheep sitting on a bench across from them.

"What's your name?" Judy asked.

"My name is Tammy." The sheep explained. "I am Mr. Ligma's co-worker, we are good friends."

Nick jotted down what Tammy had just said. Judy continued with the questions.

"When was the last time you have seen Mr. Ligma?"

Tammy thought for a moment. "At work the other day."

Nick wrote down what she said. "Did you notice anything weird that day?" Judy asked.

"Well...yes." Tammy thought for a moment. "He seemed shaky when he came to work, he said something about someone wanting to hurt him."

Nick pressed hard into the notebook with his pen. Judy leaned in closer. "Do you know who this person is?"

"His friend, Jamal." Tammy explained. "Jamal is an ex-employee of ours. He was fired last month for threatening employees. Him and Mr. Ligma were good friends."

"Where is this Jamal? Do you know?"

Tammy shook her head. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen him in a month." Tammy dug into her black purse and found a slip of paper. She handed it to Judy. "This is his address, I have no idea if he still lives here, but it may help you find out where he is."

Judy accepted the slip of paper. "Thank you so much, Tammy."

"One more thing." Tammy added. "Mr. Ligma and his wife had been fighting recently. She has been coming into the office and yelling at him recently. I just thought I'd tell you."

Judy looked at Nick while Nick wrote what Tammy had just said down. "It's always the wife." Nick mumbled under his breath.

Judy shook hands with Tammy and they all went inside. Tammy showed the two officers to the door and they left for their car. Judy unlocked the car and Nick jumped into the passenger side, followed by Judy hopping into the driver's side.

"Jamal...why Jamal? That sounds so odd." Judy explained to Nick.

"I'm not sure, based on what Tammy had said I'm leaning towards the wife."

Judy tapped her fingers on the wheel. "Well, his wife stated that they had no problems with their marriage…except for financial problems."

Nick dropped his mouth open. "Wait, how much is Mr. Ligma worth?"

Judy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when a person dies their insurance company pays the closest relative the amount of money they are worth." Nick explained. "In this case, Mrs. Ligma would have received all of his money. Some spouses kill for this reason."

Judy sighed. "Well Nick, that's a good guess, but we have no solid proof they even HAVE insurance."

"Could we find out?"

Judy thought for a moment. "Well, let's just not rule Mr. Jamal as a suspect yet. He may actually provide us with some useful evidence, especially since he was a close friend of Mr. Ligma."

"Should we head over there now?" Nick wondered.

Judy started the car. "No, we need to take this to the chief and see what he says. I don't want us getting fired, ya know?"

"I agree. Let's go check with the chief."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Judy confidently walked into the police station with Nick following behind her with his notes. Right before they reached their office, they saw two other police officers with the chief bringing in a criminal. Judy took a closer look and couldn't believe what she saw.

"...is that…"

"I think so." Nick replied.

"You have the right to remain silent, Mrs. Ligma." One of the officers growled.

Mrs. Ligma looked over at Judy and Nick with a depressed look on her face. She bowed her head in shame. "I didn't kill my husband." She whispered.

Nick felt the urge to go and try to free her, but his gut told him that was not a good idea. He thought before she was a little guilty, but now he felt she was innocent. Judy felt the same way. It was much soon to make an arrest, Judy and Nick haven't even turned in their notes yet. Judy felt her throat swell and her stomach tighten.

"We don't have enough evidence to arrest her, right Nick?"

Nick just stared at Mrs. Ligma being obtained by police officers with handcuffs on her wrists.

Judy quickly charged over to the chief. "Chief Bongo!" She waved around the notebook hoping he would see her. She yelled even louder, resulting in the chief turning around and looking at her.

"What is it, Hopps?" He growled.

"I have notes for you." Judy panted. "I went and investigated earlier like you said, sir."

Chief Bongo just stared at her. "Didn't you get my message, Hopps?"

Judy's face grew puzzled. "Message?"

The chief cleared his throat. "An anonymous resource came and turned in Mrs. Ligma."

"But sir!" Judy pleaded. "There isn't enough evidence-"

"Hopps!" The chief barked.

Judy imminently stood still and quieted.

"We investigated ourselves and found Mrs. Ligma guilty. She has no alibi, she had a bad marriage with her husband, and she owns a gun." Chief Bong, deep inside, felt like there was not enough evidence, but he had to do what he was told. "The prosecutors wanted her in jail, Hopps, not me."

Judy stood back and held her notebook. "Can I at least give this to you?" She asked.

Chief Bongo took the notebook away from her. "Yeah, I will get the investigators to look into the evidence. Do you or Nick have anything else?"

Judy handed the chief the bag full of evidence Nick collected from the scene.

"Thank you, Hopps."

Judy left the building along with Nick.

"Mrs. Ligma is in jail…" Judy sobbed. And she drove herself and Nick back to the apartment.

 **A/N: Sorry it took so long and it was short. I have another chapter doing to be released sometime this evening (central time). Thank you guys for checking this out I know it's not a romantic fanfic but I plan to hint some ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Since Judy lived quite a ways away from Nick's apartment, she decided she was going to crash on his couch for the night. She pulled into one of the parking spaces at the apartments and turned the car off. Off duty, Judy drives a little silver 2010 Toyota Corolla LE. She bought it at a local car dealership for an awesome price. It was used but in great condition, it was her favorite car.

Nick stepped out of the passenger's side and opened Judy's door for her.

"Such a gentlemen." She smiled. "Thanks for letting me crash at your place by the way."

"Anytime, Judy." Nick smiled. "You are always welcome at my apartment."

Nick showed Judy up the stairs to his apartment room. He inserted the key and opened the door, revealing a nice size living room and one bedroom. The living room was a bit of a mess, but it was no cleaner then Judy's apartment. The couch looked fairly comfortable though, so that was a positive note. The kitchen was also open with the living room. It was small but it had all the essentials for Nick.

Judy walked over to the couch and sat down. "Did you get a new couch recently, Nick?"

"Yeah, my old one started to smell funny." He blushed as he said this. "Hopefully that one doesn't smell funny too."

Judy laughed. "Nah, it smells fine. My bed smells like rabbit fur!"

Nick laughed and joined her on the couch. "Well that's because you ARE a rabbit." He giggled.

Judy's head started to feel heavy, so she lazily laid on his shoulders. "You make a great pillow, Nick."

Nick patted her ears. "My fur must be having a good day."

Judy sank herself deeper into his fur. "I really feel stressed, Nick."

Nick stroked her ears. "Why?"

"I can't find who killed Mr. Ligma." Judy muffled. "And that feels very good."

Judy's fur felt so soft between Nick's fingers. Nick became confused, weren't they just friends? Nick didn't really care though, Judy was slowly calming down and taking deep breaths through Nick's fur. Unaware by his actions, Nick gently kissed her on her head. Judy quickly looked up as Nick's eyes grew with fear.

"Oh…uh…" He said nervously.

Judy smiled and hugged Nick tighter. "Do it again."

Nick blushed as he kissed her head again. Judy soon completely calmed down and remained in his arms.

The next morning, Judy walked into the office by herself. She walked to the police meeting area and sat down in her chair next to Nick (who actually showed up early for once). Chief Bongo entered the room with a handful of case files for the officers. He called each of the police units to a case, with Judy and Nick remaining.

"Hopps and Wilde…" He started.

Judy and Nick waited in anticipation.

"The murder case of Mr. Ligma has been solved. I need you two to go to trial this afternoon so we can lock Mrs. Ligma up for good."

Judy slammed her fists into the table. "No. Mrs. Ligma is innocent."

"HOPPS!" The chief barked. "Do NOT ever correct me again do you understand?"

Judy sank in her chair with resentment.

The chief rubbed his eyes. "Look guys, I agree with you two about Mrs. Ligma but I have no say in this."

Nick stood up from his chair. "Sir, we have handed you the evidence we have collected. Is there something we missed? I really don't think Mrs. Ligma is guilty."

"Are we testifying FOR her or AGAINST her?" Judy asked.

"Against her." Chief Bongo replied. "You are helping the prosecution team. I had no say in that."

Judy and Nick looked at each other and sighed.

"I know this is a very early case but I need you two to corporate with the prosecution team. Now get out of my sight."

Judy and Nick gathered their files and left the room. As they left to the hallway, Nick cracked an idea.

"Hey Judy, I have an idea."

Judy perked her ears up and looked at him. "Really? What is it?"

"Well, we can be neutral. We can technically show up for the prosecution team but word our statements in such a way that will persuade the jury to let her go."

"How are we going to do that?" Judy tilted her head.

"Well, we need to think of things on the spot. I can't predict what the investigators will ask, but let's say that they brought up the person who turned Mrs. Ligma in. We can tell them we gathered no evidence of a third party. That's not for or against Mrs. Ligma, that's neutral."

Judy smiled. "Clever fox."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Before the trial, Judy and Nick decided to take a quick trip back to the crime scene. Judy drove the police cruiser back to the Ligma's house, which was surrounded by caution yellow tape. She parallel parked in a ditch nearby and approached the house. The sunlight shredded new light on the house, making it easier for the rookie investigators to see what is actually going on. Nick split up with Judy and went to the back of the house. Judy remained in the front and studied her surroundings.

When Nick reached to the backyard, he noticed some odd things not noticed before on the porch. He noticed bloody footprints making a trail into the grass. He quickly reached for his flashlight, then noticing the back door was shattered. How did he not notice this before?

"Judy!" He called. "You need to see this!"

Judy stopped what she was doing and sprinted over to Nick. "What's up?"

Nick pointed at the bloody footprints on the porch and in the grass. Judy gasped.

"Footprints?" She asked. "We need to take photos of this."

Nick reached for his phone and took lots of photos of the bloody footprints. He turned around and caught some snapshots of the door too.

"Could this mean this was a break-in?" Nick wondered.

"I'm not sure." Judy said while studying the footprints. "But I can safely say these footprints do not belong to a woman. We can easily send these photos into the lab and they can test Mrs. Ligma's shoes to see if it's a match."

"The door tells me this was done pretty sloppy. But if this was a break in, why is the front door not broken? I would think the Ligmas are not stupid enough to open a door to some random stranger." Nick suggested.

Judy nodded in agreement. The evidence proved to them the Ligmas did indeed know who the intruder was, but the only person who could confirm this was Mrs. Ligma herself. Judy and Nick decided to go inside of the house to do more investigation.

"You should go investigate Mrs. Ligma's room." Nick told Judy.

Judy nodded and went upstairs to Mrs. Ligma's room. Nick remained downstairs and studied the living room and kitchen area.

Judy slowly turned the doorknob to the room, discovering there was no sign there was ever a crime scene in there. The bed was unmade, clothes weren't on the floor, a pair of slippers rested next to the bed, nothing concerning Judy. She took photos anyway, knowing this would be help to prove Mrs. Ligma innocent. The room indicated she had just woken up and discovered her husband. If she had murdered him, at least a tiny bit of blood would have been found in the room because she would have came back to change clothes. The way Mr. Ligma was shot would have sprayed her with blood, and there was no blood on her. Her room suggested there was no blood on any of her clothes, which puts her in bed sleeping when the crime was committed. The footprints outside did not appear to belong to a female, and the style of the shooting is not typical for a female to commit. Judy felt as if she had enough evidence to free Mrs. Ligma and prove her innocent.

Judy snatched the slippers and zipped them inside of a plastic bag labeled "evidence." She trotted downstairs to show Nick her discovery.

"Hey Nick!" She called while waving the slippers around.

Nick turned around with his hand inside of a drawer. "You found something, Judy?"

Judy smiled as she walked closer to him. "I found some slippers." She began. "These are Mrs. Ligma's slippers."

The slippers were a light, baby pink color with little pig heads on the tips. They looked to have belonged to a woman, plus they were much too small for Mr. Ligma.

Nick studied the slippers. "These don't look like they would have made the footprints outside." He suggested. "What shoes did she wear when we questioned her?"

Judy pulled out her notebook and studied the notes. "She didn't have shoes on…" She looked up at Nick. "Do you think she forgot to slip on her slippers when she heard the gunshots like she had said?"

Nick rubbed his chin. "That's a possibility. Perhaps she was too much in emotional and mental shock to react correctly. She was in pajamas last time I remember."

"Which indicates she was sleeping!" Judy cheered. "Mrs. Ligma IS innocent! There would be no way she could have committed this. The evidence proves she was sleeping when this crime was committed!"

"If Mrs. Ligma didn't do it...who did?" Nick wondered. "Maybe a family friend?"

"It had to have been a person Mr. Ligma trusted. We need to ask Mrs. Ligma for names of friends and family and we need to question them."

"Yeah." Nick agreed. "I don't think this was a random act of evil ya know?"

Judy looked out of a window. "I just wonder who would want to murder this poor man…" She sighed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Soon later in the courtroom, Mrs. Ligma and her lawyer sat behind a wooden table labeled "defendant." Chief Bongo sat next to the prosecutors at another wooden table next to the defendants. Chief Bongo looked around and noticed Judy and Nick were not present.

"Where is Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde?" He growled.

Just then, the large wooden doors bursted open, revealing Judy on the other side. "Sorry I'm late." She panted. She carried a briefcase to Chief Bongo with Nick following. "It's been a very long day." She nervously laughed.

"Sit down." The chief growled at her.

Judy and Nick took their seats on a bench behind Chief Bongo and the prosecutor. Judy opened the briefcase and rummaged through some papers and photos. Nick leaned over.

"What are you doing?" He whispered in her ear.

Judy turned her head, a little annoyed. "I'm finding evidence to free Mrs. Ligma." She stared.

"You're going to get us into trouble." Nick worriedly complained.

"I call Officer Hopps to the stand." The judge announced. Judy perked her ears up and pointed at herself. "Yes you." The judge replied at her. "Get up here."

Judy slammed her briefcase closed and walked up to the stand. The bailiff opened the little door to the box where she had to sit. She walked through the door and walked up 3 little steps to the chair. She sat down and looked over at the fairly large jury. Mrs. Ligma's lawyer stood up and approached her.

"Officer Hopps." She started. "I see you're fairly new at this. If you don't mind I'm going to ask you a few questions."

"Does it really matter what I think?" Judy smarted off.

"No, not really." The lawyer fired back. "When you saw Mr. Ligma on the floor did you notice anything suspicious?"

"No." Judy answered. "But Nick and I went back to the crime scene-"

"You went back?!" Chief Bongo interrupted. "You know you can't do that, Hopps!"

"Order!" The judge shouted as he banged his gavel. He turned over to the lawyer questioning Judy. "Please continue."

"Oh okay." The lawyer twiddled her thumbs and looked up at Judy. "When you went back to the crime scene did you notice anything out-of-place?"

This was Judy's chance, her chance to free Mrs. Ligma. She knew she couldn't screw this up, this was an innocent person sitting in jail. Judy rummaged through the briefcase until she found the photo of the slippers. "Here." She said while handing it to the defense lawyer.

The lawyer took a look at the photos. They were a pair of untouched slippers, a messy bed, and a bloodless carpet. The lawyer agreed with Judy, it looked as though someone was surprised awake and left the bed. The door was wide open too, indicating there was a rush. Mrs. Ligma was not known leaving doors open, so this was a chance for the defense to talk.

"Mrs. Ligma did not kill her husband and here is proof." The defense lawyer held up the photo. "She left the room in a hurry to check on her husband."

A few hours of bickering and questioning, the jury was finally sent to a room to discuss if Mrs. Ligma was guilty or not. The courtroom remained silent for what seemed like days. Judy shook in her seat in anticipation for the ruling.

The jury returned and their spoke person stood in front of the courtroom. Judy nearly squeaked with impatience.

"We the jury find Mrs. Justine Ligma...not guilty of 1st degree murder of her husband Mr. James Ligma."

The courtroom sighed in relief as Mrs. Ligma was released from her handcuffs. Judy and Nick looked at each other and smiled.

"Step 2 is finding out who actually did it." Nick smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

Back at the police station, Judy reviewed some of Mr. Ligma's evidence that was collected previously. There was not anything new, but it was always best to review so she can determine a suspect. Scanning though Nick's notes, she found a name she remembered hearing.

"Jamal." She mumbled to herself. "We need to find Jamal."

Nick opened her office door and peeked his nose inside. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Judy stood up and opened the door for the fox. Nick entered and brushed off his shirt.

"Anything new?" He asked.

Judy shook her head. "However, I did find someone of interest when I was reviewing your notes."

Nick leaned forward. "Who?"

"Remember Tammy mentioning a man named Jamal?"

Nick tapped his chin. "Yeah I think so."

Judy smiled. "Well she stated something that caught my attention. She said Jamal would not mind hurting Mr. Ligma. Sound familiar?"

Nick's eyes grew wide. "Oh, yeah I do!" He exclaimed. "But we don't know who Jamal is, where he lives, anyone who might know where he is...we don't know anything."

Judy sat back down in her chair. "Well it seems we will have to question Tammy or Mrs. Ligma again. Maybe they know something since they were the closest to Mr. Ligma."

Nick chucked to himself a little. "Jamal sounds like a huge nerdy name. I doubt he did anything."

"Never underestimate criminals!" Judy sharply corrected. "For now, we will have to locate Jamal and question him. And now we have to find a way to do that."

A/N: sorry this was so short. I've been in the hospital for a while and I was released the other day. I promise the story will continue.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Judy and Nick managed to track Jamal down. Jamal lived not too far from the police station, about 6 miles down the road. Judy and Nick didn't have a warrant to enter so they had to knock. Judy was a bit irritated about this because this gives Jamal the right to not talk, but as a police officer she had to obey the law. After all, the law is very serious to her.

The house was tiny. It only appeared to have at the most one bedroom, one bathroom, possibly a living room, and a kitchen. The driveway was well kept, no pot holes or loose gravel. It was a bright, white concrete with a small Toyota Camry parked in front. The house didn't appear have a garage, but it did have a large yard that was surrounded by a white picket fence. No flowers were planted in any part of the large yard, but large, pine trees covered every inch. The house reminded Judy and Nick of a little cottage. The house was a navy blue color, and had large windows in just the right places. In the front, a large, plain wooden door greeted the officers to the house.

"This house is just like a cottage." Judy stated. She started to snicker a bit. "I wonder how a man like Jamal could live in this by himself. He's single, right?"

Nick looked over his notes. "It appears so. Why you ask?"

Judy laughed. "This house looks like something a woman would design."

Nick stood up straight. "Well maybe he did have a wife at one time, or he may possibly live with a lady family member or a girlfriend."

Judy shrugged and walked up to the door. She looked at Nick and then the door. She raised her fist up and knocked sternly. A few seconds later, the door creeped open, with a raccoon peeking his head out.

"May I help you?"

"Hello." Judy answered. "Is a young man named Jamal Thomas present today?"

The raccoon went back inside and closed the door. Judy looked at Nick and shrugged. "Maybe he isn't home." Judy stepped away when suddenly the door rattled. The raccoon opened the door wider than the first time and stepped out. He was quite short and very fuzzy.

"I'm Jamal Thomas." He said sternly. "Why are you here?"

Judy stood up straight in surprise. "Oh, nice to meet you." She outstretched her hand, insisting Jamal would shake her hand, but Jamal didn't even to approach her. Judy frowned and lowered her hand. "My name is Officer Hopps and this is Officer Wilde, we are here to ask you some questions about a man named Mr. James Ligma. Do you know him?"

Jamal raised an eyebrow. "James? Yeah I know him, I haven't seen him in a while though."

Nick began to take notes while Judy continued to question. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"We went to this bar together, like we used to."

Judy frowned. "How long ago was this?"

"I think about four months ago." Jamal said with a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

Nick wrote this down. "What happened when you visited the bar with Mr. Ligma?" Judy asked.

Jamal lowered his head. "We got into a big fight. Mr. Ligma and I were fighting over the same girl we met a few months earlier. Mr. Ligma wasn't really faithful with his wife. But since I don't have a wife I thought I had a chance with this girl. James disagreed and flirted with her too, so we both got into a fight and haven't spoken to each other since."

"Did you have a wife before?"

Jamal hunched over. "I'd rather not talk about that." He answered with sadness in his voice. "But I will say I never respected James. He always had another girl with him. If his wife found out I would be scared to know what she would do to him. I have a hard time staying with friends that cheat, you know? They are just low."

"Do you think Mrs. Ligma would murder Mr. Ligma in your opinion?"

"Interesting question." Jamal stated. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well…" Judy looked over to Nick. Nick nodded at her and raised his pencil up, prepared to take note of Jamal's reaction to what Judy was about to say. "Mr. Ligma was murdered a few days ago, and we are trying to find out who did it. A friend told us that you might know something, so that is why we are here asking you questions."

Jamal gasped. "Wait what? James is…dead?" He struggled to say the word "dead."

Judy and Nick nodded.

"I'm sorry officers, but I had no idea James was killed. I don't really know anyone who would want to hurt that man. Sure he was a cheat, but his wife loved him very much. She doesn't even know how to use a weapon, I don't think she would do something like this." Tears rolled down his face. "I knew I should've talked to him, but now he's gone." Heavy tears flowed from his eyes now as his face began to become hot and red. "He was my best friend, like a brother to me. We grew up together. I never even got to say goodbye."

Nick reached into his bag and pulled out some tissues. He handed them to Jamal to wipe his tears.

"How can I help?" Jamal leaned in close to Judy as he asked this.

"Well, Mr. Thomas…" Judy struggled to come up with an answer. "You've gave us the answers we needed. We will certainly give you a call if we need you again." Judy handed him her card. "But for now, if you have any useful information you think we could use, feel free to give me a call."

Jamal took the card and placed it into his pocket. "I will certainly do that, officer. Thanks for telling me, I'll get over these emotions eventually."

"Goodbye Jamal." Judy and Nick walked away from the house. Nick turned around and saw the raccoon standing by his door.

"Thanks for all your help!" Nick shouted. Jamal just waved at them for a while before he re-entered his home. He disappeared behind the wooden door as Judy and Nick left the property.

"Jamal didn't do this." Judy firmly stated. "Guilty criminals don't take the news of a death like that."

"I would agree." Nick replied. "But if Jamal is innocent, than who pulled that trigger?"

Judy stopped in her tracks. "Wait didn't Jamal mention something about a girl they were jealous of?"

"Yeah."

"We need to find out who that girl is." Judy sternly stated. "Make a phone call to Jamal when we get back to the station."

"Can do, Jude." Nick smiled. "You want to go and grab some coffee?"

"Oh yes, coffee sounds awesome right now."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Judy and Nick drove back to the police station to share their evidence with Chief Bogo. On the way back, Nick kept reading the case files over and over, and it started to drive Judy a bit crazy.

"Nick, stop reading those files." Judy sternly requested.

"Jamal…Judy something does not seem right about Jamal…"

Judy groaned. "If there is something odd Chief Bogo will find that out. He is the police chief after all."

Nick shrugged in agreement. But still, if Jamal did not do it then who did? And to solve a murder case you need a motive, and the only person Judy can think of from the top of her head is Jamal. Jamal is a jealous friend; it would only make sense for Jamal to kill him. Mr. Ligma is the only person who knows exactly what had happened, but he is no longer here. Judy became increasingly irritated as she thought about Mr. Ligma's voice being rested in her hands. Judy does not know who would be a key witness, certainly not the wife. Jamal was the only one who had a motive, but he also had a pretty legit alibi.

Judy and Nick finally arrived to the police station for what had seemed like forever, Chief Bogo was in his office, as usual. Judy took a few steps over to the chief's office, and gestured Nick to come and follow her. Chief's door was cracked open.

Judy popped her head in. "Hello sir, we just have a case file that we would like you to read."

Chief Bogo adjusted his glasses. "Alright, bring it here."

Judy approached him with the file and handed it over to him. She trusted Chief Bogo more than any other police officer in the force with her. Chief scanned the document over and looked at Judy.

"You're telling me you haven't interviewed Jamal yet?"

Judy blushed in embarrassment. "Well, you know an interview can be very stressful, sir."

Chief Bogo slammed his hands onto his forehead. "Hopps you need to bring Jamal into headquarters for an interview before you can add him onto the case profile. You should know that. You were top of your class."

Judy's ears drooped. How could she have forgotten that? Now, Jamal's statement is totally useless in the eyes of the law. At this point, Judy had just straight up forgotten common practice of the law. It seemed she had gotten so wound up in this case, she forgot the simple but very important facts. Her heart sank into her stomach and her eyes swelled. She felt like the true definition of a failure.

Nick walked up behind Judy and rubbed her back. "Oh it's alright, Carrots, it was just a simple mistake."

Judy felt tears build up into her eyes, waiting to sprinkle out like backyard sprinklers. "No, Nick. No it was not just a simple mistake. Now it will be even harder to solve this case. Imagine how ridiculous we would look if we asked Jamal for another interview. We are supposed to be trusted."

Nick thought for a moment. He did not quite understand the meaning of being a cop yet, or even an investigator. He only saw an upset rabbit and what appeared to be a simple mistake to him. Just as Judy had dangled the case file by her tail in disappointment, Nick noticed a photo paperclipped behind Jamal's. He could barely make out a raccoon tail. "Carrots, may I please have the file?"

Without hesitation, Judy handed Nick the case file. What more harm could he do to it anyway? Nick examined the photo carefully, noticing the racoon looked strangely similar to Mr. Ligma. He pointed it out to Juddy. "Carrots, have you noticed this guy before?"

Judy examined the photo for a few seconds before she knew exactly who it was. "Hey, that's Donnie Ligma, Mr. Ligma's brother!" She read the description. "Although, I have no idea why he would be in this case file. It states Mr. Ligma had no siblings."

Nick tapped his chin. "I think we need to see this Donnie."


End file.
